In the knitting of one-piece panty hose it is conventional to form the waist opening during the knitting operation as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,821 to Johnson. In most instances the waist opening is defined by a cut or slit extending wale-wise along the knitted fabric, that is in the direction of knitting. This is objectionable because in the finished product the dimension between the waist opening and the crotch is limited by the diameter of the knitting machine, which is conventionally about four or four and one half inches.
There have been prior attempts to form the waist opening during knitting on a circular knitting machine in a direction transverse to the direction of knitting or course-wise of the knitted article, but considerable difficulty has been encountered in retaining the stitches bordering the waist opening.